Talent management strategy

Transcription

1 Talent management strategy In this chapter 1) talent management and the concept of talent are defined, 2) the process of talent management is explained and 3) the approach to developing a talent management strategy is described. TALENT MANAGEMENT DEFINED Talent management is basically about the identification and development of potential. It can be defined more elaborately as the process of identifying, developing, recruiting, retaining and deploying talented people. The term talent management may refer simply to management succession planning and management development activities, although this notion does not really add anything to these familiar processes except a new, although admittedly quite evocative, name. It is better to regard talent management as a more comprehensive and integrated bundle of activities, the aim of which is to secure the flow of talent in an organization, bearing in mind that talent is a major corporate resource. But to understand the process of talent management it is necessary to be clear about what is meant by talent. What is talent? As defined by the CIPD (2007b), Talent consists of those individuals who can make a difference to organizational performance, either through their

2 Talent management strategy l 169 immediate contribution or in the longer term by demonstrating the highest levels of potential. There are different views about what talent means. Some follow the lead given by McKinsey & Company, which coined the phrase the war for talent in A book on this subject by Michaels et al (2001) identified five imperatives that companies need to act on if they are going to win the war for managerial talent. These are: 1. creating a winning employee value proposition that will make your company uniquely attractive to talent; 2. moving beyond recruiting hype to build a long-term recruiting strategy; 3. using job experience, coaching and mentoring to cultivate the potential in managers; 4. strengthening your talent pool by investing in A players, developing B players and acting decisively on C players; 5. having a pervasive mindset, which is central to this approach a deep conviction shared by leaders throughout the company that competitive advantage comes from having better talent at all levels. The McKinsey prescription has often been misinterpreted to mean that talent management is only about obtaining, identifying and nurturing high-flyers, ignoring the point they made that competitive advantage comes from having better talent at all levels. Jeffrey Pfeffer (2001) has doubts about the war for talent concept, which he thinks is the wrong metaphor for organizational success. He believes that: Fighting the war for talent itself can cause problems. Companies that adopt a talent war mind-set often wind up venerating outsiders and downplaying the talent already in the company. They frequently set up competitive zero-sum dynamics that make internal learning and knowledge transfer difficult, activate the self-fulfilling prophecy in the wrong direction (those labelled as less able become less able), and create an attitude of arrogance instead of an attitude of wisdom. For all these reasons, fighting the war for talent may be hazardous to an organization s health and detrimental to doing the things that will make it successful. HR people also have different views, which state on the one hand that everyone has talent and it not just about the favoured few, and on the other that you need to focus on the best. As reported by Warren (2006), Laura Ashley, director of talent at newspaper group Metro, believes you must maximize the performance of your workforce as a whole if you are going to maximize the performance of the organization. Alternatively, Wendy Hirsh, principal associate at the Institute for Employment Studies, says it is not helpful to confuse talent management with overall employee development.

3 170 l HR strategies Both are important, but talent management is best kept clear and focused. Another view was expressed by Thorne and Pellant (2007), who wrote: No organization should focus all its attention on development of only part of its human capital. What is important, however, is recognizing the needs of different individuals within its community. The general consensus seems to be that while talent management does focus on obtaining, identifying and developing people with high potential this should not be at the expense of the development needs of people generally. THE PROCESS OF TALENT MANAGEMENT Talent management takes the form of a bundle of interrelated processes as shown in Figure Talent management starts with the business strategy and what it signifies in terms of the talented people required by the organization. Ultimately, its aim is to develop and maintain a pool of talented people. Its elements are described below. The resourcing strategy The business plan provides the basis for human resource planning, which defines human capital requirements and leads to attraction and retention policies and programmes for internal resourcing (identifying talented people within the organization and developing and promoting them). Attraction and retention policies and programmes These policies and programmes describe the approach to ensuring that the organization both gets and keeps the talent it needs. Attraction policies lead to programmes for external resourcing (recruitment and selection of people from outside the organization). Retention policies are designed to ensure that people remain as committed members of the organization. The outcome of these policies is a talent flow that creates and maintains the talent pool. Talent audit A talent audit identifies those with potential and provides the basis for career planning and development ensuring that talented people have the sequence of experience supplemented by coaching and learning programmes that will fit them to carry out more demanding roles in the

4 171 Attraction and retention policies Business strategy Resourcing strategy Role External resourcing Talent relationship management Internal resourcing Performance management Figure 15.1 The elements of talent management Continuing talent audit Management development Learning and development Career management Management succession The talent pool

5 172 l HR strategies future. Talent audits can also be used to indicate the possible danger of talented people leaving (risk analysis) and what action may need to be taken to retain them. Role Talent management is concerned with the roles people carry out. This involves role design ensuring that roles provide the responsibility, challenge and autonomy required to create role engagement and motivation. It also means taking steps to ensure that people have the opportunity and are given the encouragement to learn and develop in their roles. Talent management policies focus on role flexibility giving people the chance to develop their roles by making better and extended use of their talents. Talent relationship management Talent relationship management is the process of building effective relationships with people in their roles. It is concerned generally with creating a great place to work, but in particular it is about treating individual employees fairly, recognizing their value, giving them a voice and providing opportunities for growth. The aim is to achieve talent engagement, ensuring that people are committed to their work and the organization. As Sears (2003) points out, it is better to build an existing relationship rather than try to create a new one when someone leaves. Performance management Performance management processes provide a means of building relationships with people, identifying talent and potential, planning learning and development activities and making the most of the talent possessed by the organization. Line managers can be asked to carry out separate risk analyses for any key staff to assess the likelihood of their leaving. Properly carried out, performance management is a means of increasing the engagement and motivation of people by providing positive feedback and recognition. This is part of a total reward system. Learning and development Learning and development policies and programmes are essential components in the process of talent management ensuring that people acquire and enhance the skills and competencies they need. Policies should be formulated by reference to employee success profiles, which are described in terms of competencies and define the qualities that need to be developed.

6 Talent management strategy l 173 Employee success profiles can be incorporated in role profiles. Career management Career management consists of the processes of career planning and management succession. Career planning shapes the progression of individuals within an organization in accordance with assessments of organizational needs, defined employee success profiles, and the performance, potential and preferences of individual members of the enterprise. As reported by Ready and Conger (2007), at Procter & Gamble destination jobs are identified for high-potentials, which are attainable only if the employee continues to perform, impress and demonstrate growth potential. Management succession planning takes place to ensure that, as far as possible, the organization has the managers it requires to meet future business needs. DEVELOPING A TALENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY A talent management strategy consists of a view on how the processes described above should mesh together with an overall objective to acquire and nurture talent wherever it is and wherever it is needed by using a number of interdependent policies and practices. Talent management is the notion of bundling in action. Components of a talent management strategy A talent management strategy involves: l defining who the talent management programme should cover; l defining what is meant by talent in terms of competencies and potential; l defining the future talent requirements of the organization; l developing the organization as an employer of choice a great place to work ; l using selection and recruitment procedures that ensure that good-quality people are recruited who are likely to thrive in the organization and stay with it for a reasonable length of time (but not necessarily for life); l designing jobs and developing roles that give people opportunities to apply and grow their skills and provide them with autonomy, interest and challenge; l providing talented staff with opportunities for career development and growth;

7 174 l HR strategies l creating a working environment in which work processes and facilities enable rewarding (in the broadest sense) jobs and roles to be designed and developed; l providing scope for achieving a reasonable balance between working in the organization and life outside work; l developing a positive psychological contract; l developing the leadership qualities of line managers; l recognizing those with talent by rewarding excellence, enterprise and achievement; l conducting talent audits that identify those with potential and those who might leave the organization; l introducing management succession planning procedures that identify the talent available to meet future requirements and indicate what management development activities are required. The qualities required The development and implementation of a talent management strategy requires high-quality management and leadership from the top and from senior managers and the HR function. As suggested by Younger et al (2007), the approaches required involve emphasizing growth from within, regarding talent development as a key element of the business strategy, being clear about the competencies and qualities that matter, maintaining well-defined career paths, taking management development, coaching and mentoring very seriously, and demanding high performance.